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In both beer and wine, “Grand Cru” designates something special, a selection of the very best a brewer or vintner can muster from the cellar. For ours, we looked to wine country for inspiration, and left with more than a few handfuls of grapes. With the help of some very talented friends, we set out to create something truly special.

Dogpatch Grand Cru is a bolder, more robust version of our Dogpatch Sour Flanders red-style ale, aged for over a year in red wine barrels with a blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, Tannat, Petite Sirah, and Tempranillo grapes to create an intricately vinous, tannic, and exceptionally original brew. Farmer’s Reserve Grand Cru, meanwhile, is our homage to delicate and aromatic white wines. California-grown Muscat Blanc grapes were added to an imperial version of our sour blonde ale, then aged in white wine barrels for over a year.

Both beers would not have been possible without the help of the entire Almanac family as well as our circle of talented friends. Grape selection was done with the help of Paul Einbund and Cappelli Ranch, and the bottle designs were hand drawn by Erik Marinovich.

From all of us at Almanac, these beers are our way of saying “Thank you!” Thank you to all of our friends and family who have supported us since our homebrewer beginnings. Thank you to the local farms, restaurants, bars, bottles shops, homebrew clubs, bottle shares and craft beer lovers who have helped us get to a place where we are able to make beers like these. These special large format 750ml bottles are designed to be shared with friends and family.

Both Grand Cru releases seamlessly blend the best characteristics of beer and wine, challenging expectations and defying classification. As the old saying goes, in vino veritas, in cervesio felicitas—in wine there is truth, in beer there is happiness. In our Grand Cru releases, we hope you will find both.

Look for our 750ml Grand Cru bottles to release in Early November, available exclusively in California.